in the bottom of his shoes so he wouldn't get hurt for the next week. The cardboard held for a couple more weeks when Raymond's mother came home with three dollars and fifty cents to give him for a brand new pair of shoes. Not three dollars and fifty cents to go towards a pair of shoes, the money was to buy him a pair of shoes from "Johnny's Bargain Store." This did not excite Raymond as she had anticipated it would. He looked worried, confused and upset. She asked him what was wrong and he was hesitant to tell her. He then began to tell her how he would so much like to have a pair of converse shoes. Raymond gave every possible persuasion he could, even telling her he would not buy another pair of shoes for another two years. He didn't even care if his feet grew. He was a little shocked to see her grow a little sympathetic to his plea when she asked him how much they were. Raymond responded with twenty dollars, but said that he would walk ten blocks further to another store selling them for seventeen. At this his mother blew up in furry. This was the first time he had heard her so furious since he could remember. It was obvious there was not enough money for such frivolous things, but Raymond could only hope. The next day, he walked onto the playground with a brand new pair of bright white tennis shoes from "Johnny's Bargain Store" and headed straight for the dirt in order to make them dirty so nobody noticed he got a new pair of shoes that were not converse. Raymond went home that day with a black eye. Raymond had fought with a child making fun of him for his whole sale shoes. His mother had no sympathy for him. She had worked very hard for that money and believed that she taught her son better than to fight over something she gave to him for his benefit. She had also taught him to defend himself just in case the ways to prevent a fight that she also taught him did not work. How could I ever relate to a story like t...
